Retail Trade

Industry Sector

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Workforce Population

17M

2022

Average Employee Age

38.7

2022

Estimated Job Growth

−3.42%

10-Year Projection

Average Salary

$42,950

2022

Average Male Salary

$50,777

2022

Average Female Salary

$34,532

2022

About

The top three occupations in the Retail Trade Industry Sector are retail salespersons, firstline supervisors of retail sales workers, and cashiers. On average, full-time employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sector work 42.8 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $56,174. Part-time employees in the same industry work 22.1 hours and earn an average annual salary of $15,481.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sector are Benton County (Central)--Bentonville & Rogers Cities PUMA, AR, Benton County (Outer) PUMA, AR, and Seattle City (Lake Union-Downtown) PUMA, WA.

The workforce of Retail Trade Industry Sector in 2022 was 16,983,656 people, with 48.2% woman, and 51.8% men.

In 2022, 66.7% of the workforce in the Retail Trade Industry Sector was White (11,325,715 people), of which 47.6% were women and 52.4% men.

Photo by paul bica

Retail Trade

Employment & Salaries

A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

The workforce in Retail Trade Industry Sector was 16,983,656 people and is concentrated in California (1,832,025 workers). The average annual salary was $42,950, being $21,733 less than the national average salary, which was $64,683.

Monthly Employment

Showing data for the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities industry sector.

Start Year

Y-Axis

0.946%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 28.9M people employed in the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities industry. This represents a 0.946% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Trade, Transportation, and Utilities over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

Employment by Location

The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2022 were California (1.83M), Texas (1.5M), and Florida (1.19M).

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Yearly Wage Ranking

In 2022, Retail Trade Industry Sector had an average annual wage of $42,950, $21,733 less than the average national salary of $64,683.

The graph shows the position of Retail Trade Industry Sector in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

Wage Distribution

0.505

WAGE GINI

Retail Trade has a wage GINI of 0.505, which is more than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Retail Trade (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Retail Trade Industry Sector workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Occupations

A review of jobs and wages in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Retail salespersons are the most common position with 2,915,909 workers, but the Retail Trade Industry Sector employs a relatively high number of Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers and Cashiers.

The highest average salary in Retail Trade goes to Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.

Occupations Distribution

The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sector according to occupations. In 2022, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were retail salespersons (2,915,909 people), firstline supervisors of retail sales workers (2,645,660 people), and cashiers (2,154,991 people)

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$50,777

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$543

$34,532

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$374

On average, Male workers in the Retail Trade Industry Sector make 1.47 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Business

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Retail Trade Industry Sector. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

The Retail Trade Industry Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry.

California and Texas stand out as the states with the largest number of establishments in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Industrial Flow

Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Retail Trade Industry Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Retail Trade Industry Sector is Construction.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Intermediate Inputs

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

The Retail Trade Industry Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

Use of Output by Other Industries

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

The Construction Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Retail Trade Industry Sector in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Retail Trade Industry Sector for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

Establishments

States with more establishments in 2016

California
273,366
Texas
198,070
New York
193,144

The charts shows the distribution of establishments in the Retail Trade industry by states and the number of establishments according to size.

Median Earnings

States with the highest median earnings in 2022

The charts shows the median earnings of the Retail Trade industry by state and the annual evolution of the median earnings of the industry compared to the national level.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Retail Trade Industry Sector in the US.

Of the total workforce, 48.2% corresponds to women and 51.8% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $50,777 and $34,532.

76.2% of workers have a high school or equivalent, some college or bachelors degree.

Gender and Age

8,183,107

Women

48.2%

8,800,549

Men

51.8%

The workforce of Retail Trade industry in 2022 was 16,983,656 people, with 48.2% woman, and 51.8% men.

The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Retail Trade industry.

Races

In 2022, 66.7% of the workforce in the Retail Trade industry was White (11,325,715 people), of which 47.6% were women and 52.4% men.

Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black and Two or More Races.

Educational Levels

The main educational levels achieved by the Retail Trade workers in 2022 were high school or equivalent (5,627,416 people), some college (4,643,488 people), and bachelors degree (2,676,043 people).

The chart shows the Retail Trade workforce by gender and educational level.

Projections

Growth projections of the Retail Trade industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow −3.42% in the next ten years. The Retail Trade industry has a lower projected workforce growth at −3.42%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (30.4%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (30.4%).

Job Growth

−3.42%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

−3.42%

National Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Retail Trade. This industry is expected to grow approximately the same than −3.42%, the average rate of national job growth.